1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wheel chock for aircraft and, more particularly, to securing an aircraft or other device with wheels through a chock adapted to secure a wheel around four sides thereof and from above.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently, wheel chocks are used in the aircraft and other field to secure a wheel of a device to preclude unauthorized movement of the wheel and the aircraft or other device constructed with such wheel. Wheel chocks have two primary purposes. The first purpose is to prevent the aircraft from rolling due to wind or other aircraft taxiing by. The second purpose is security. Wheel chocks are designed with a locking mechanism which will secure the aircraft or other device and eliminate the possibility of theft. In addition, wheel chocks should be assembled on an aircraft nose wheel in a matter of seconds and should not be removed nor the aircraft moved until the chock is removed.
Known chocks are insufficient to attain the desired purposes and objectives. This is evidenced by the continuing technical efforts to improve chocks to overcome inherent problems of chocks having conventional and knows designs. Illustrative of the continuing technical efforts to improve chocks are a large number of prior patents. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,846 to Janus discloses a pair of blocks shaped as chocks to fit under the forward and rearward portions of a vehicle wheel and are joined together by a tie bar having one end secured to one blocks and having its other end slidingly received in ears projecting from a locking plate secured to the other blocks. A locking pin bearing a cam can be turned to force the cam against the bar. The pin handle is in the form of a loop and an eye is secured in the block adjacent the handle so that the pin may be secured in locked position by a padlock through handle and eye. Each block also has another projecting eye and a chain passed through the latter eyes and around the wheel can be locked by the padlock to prevent theft of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,238 to Carpenter discloses locking wheel chocks for an automotive vehicle wheel consisting of a pair of wedges adapted to be disposed respectively for and aft of said wheel, in engagement with the ground surface and confronting the periphery of the wheel, a connector joining said wedges and adapted to extend alongside said wheel, a mechanism for shortening said connector whereby said wedges are driven tightly between said wheel periphery and said road surface, and a key-operated locking device for securing said connector releasably at any desired degree of extension, and for securing said chock device to said wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,844 to Woerner discloses a wheel chock adapted to be paired with another substantially identical chock to form a wheel chock assembly for use between the tandem wheels of a vehicle. A rigid arm having a flat sidewall generally in a central plane of the chock extends from an angular sidewall of the chock. When the chocks are positioned between tandem wheels, the arms are pivotally connected and set in a raised position. Downward pressure against the arms move the chocks out laterally into engagement with the wheels and the ground and prevent the wheels from rotating. Means are provided to distribute the force away from the center of the chock. Means are also provided to serve as a step for foot pressure in depressing the arms to lock the tandem wheels and as a handle to raise the arms. Other features of the invention are disclosed in the specification.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,070 to Bohler discloses an improved vehicle locking wheel chock comprising a pair of wedge shaped chocks having flat bottom ground contacting surfaces each rigidly affixed to respective end portions of a spacing bar with the chock bottom surfaces in a coplanar relationship and the oblique wedge surfaces of the respective chocks in a facing relationship spaced apart a distance that the space between the respective chock oblique wedge surfaces defines the region occupied by the vehicle wheel. Each chock rotatably supports a lockable retaining mechanism comprising a support rod extending transversely of the chock with a pair of elongated retaining arms rigidly affixed to opposite ends of the rod to extend transversely of the rod axis and spaced apart a distance exceeding the width of a vehicle wheel. Each rod is pivotally supported by a chock for rotation about the longitudinal axis of the rod between an open position in which both retaining arms lie outside the face of the wheel region space defined between the oblique wedge surfaces of the respective chocks and a closed position in which both retaining arms lie across the face of the wheel region space defined between the oblique wedge surfaces of the respective chocks. The outer end of the retaining arms of both retaining mechanisms positioned on the same side of the pair of chocks being configured for being mutually coupled together when the retaining arms are in the closed position.
All of the known designs for chocks are deficient in one aspect or another.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the wheel chocks art.
Another object of the present invention is to secure wheels of vehicles against unauthorized or unintended movement.
Another object of the present invention is to deter the theft of wheeled devices.
Another object of the present invention is to contact a wheel on four adjacent sides and over the top in an effort to more positively preclude movement of the wheel and its vehicle while the chock is in place.
Another object of the present invention is to allow easy assembly and disassembly with regard to the wheel to be secured.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wheel chock for aircraft comprising a first inverted U-shaped channel member including a horizontal upper surface and side surfaces extending downwardly therefrom to form vertical side edges. A first side panel is secured to one side edge of the first channel member and extends horizontally in a first direction. The first side panel has at least one locking hole extending therethrough. An aperture extends through each side surface of the first channel member. The apertures are in axial alignment about a horizontal axis. Both apertures are of a common predetermined diameter. The present invention further includes a second U-shaped channel member including a horizontal upper surface and side surfaces extending downwardly therefrom to form vertical side edges. A second side panel is secured to one side edge of the second channel member and extends horizontally in a second direction opposite from the first direction. The second side panel has at least one locking hole extending therethrough adapted to be positioned in alignment with at least one of the holes of the first side panel. The present invention further includes a cylindrical rod extending horizontally in the second direction from adjacent to the end of the second channel member remote from the second side plate and slidingly positionable within the apertures of the first channel member to an extent determined by the alignment of locking holes of the first and second side plates. The device further includes a chain secured to the first channel member adjacent to the apertures. The chain has a free end adapted to be positioned in alignment with the aligned holes of the first and second side plates.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.